


Skyjacked!

by WordMusician



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Forbidden Love, Light Angst, Mystery, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-02 19:51:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16793647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordMusician/pseuds/WordMusician
Summary: He's just regenerated and she just recovered from Bad Wolf. The Tenth Doctor and Rose are just starting out together when they encounter a major setback in their relationship.    The adventure is squeezed between S2 E1 & E2.





	1. Poisoned!

She felt herself sinking down softly. She was so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open and she sighed as her muscles relaxed. She felt both weightless and heavy at the same time. From a distance she thought she heard a voice calling, but she didn’t bother to respond. Then a strong hand was shaking her shoulder. “Rose? Rose!”

She frowned. She didn’t want to be disturbed. Languid warmth spread through her limbs enticing her to deeper sleep. There was an annoying buzzing over her body and near her face. A bee, she thought. She didn’t want to be stung. She tried to wave it away, but found her hand too heavy to move. _“If I lie very still and hold my breath, perhaps the bee will not bother me and fly away,”_ she thought. 

“No, no, no, no! Don’t stop breathing!” exclaimed the voice. “I’m so sorry. This is going to sting…”

 _“Of course,”_ she thought, _“That’s what bees do…. Ow, ow, ow, ouch!”_ A sharp pain shot through her chest and an icy liquid suddenly seemed to flow through her veins spreading out toward her extremities chasing away the warmth she had been enjoying moments before. Pressure was building in her lungs, seeming to push her further down into sleepy nothingness. Then both warmth and ice began to fade to numbness.

“It’s not working! Why isn’t it working? Rose you have to fight this. Come on, you’re a fighter, Rose. Be strong, be brave.” Someone pinched her nose and then cool lips were on hers, blowing into her mouth. “Can you hear me? Please, Rose, fight. You’ve got to fight.” Another kiss of air and she realized it was CPR. She thought that was odd because she didn’t remember drowning. “Please, help me Rose.” The desperation and the worry in the words tugged at her slowing heart. “Please come back!” This last call was like a cord about the waist. It anchored her and would not let her drift away. It pulled tight and then yanked.

A violent spasm compressed her diaphragm and suddenly she was coughing. Noxious gas escaped her lungs leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. She gagged and coughed more. She opened watering eyes to find a man’s face inches from her own. She could see genuine fear swirling in his dark eyes before he blinked it rapidly away. Slowly a beautiful smile beamed down upon her.

“Can you sit up?” When she nodded, he helped her to sit up and braced her with his shoulder as another paroxysm of coughing gripped her tight.

“What happened?” she gasped weakly. “My mouth tastes vile.”

“Here, suck on this.” He produced a peppermint from his pocket. “It will help. You were drowning. Not in water, of course, that would be ludicrous. Naphriyon gas, if I’m not mistaken, which of course I rarely am.”

She sucked hard on the candy, enjoying the cooling sensation in her nasal passages as well as the sweetness on her tongue. “How did I get Napri – whatzit?”

“Naphriyon gas, a natural defense mechanism of the Naphri blossom; only noxious to humans when highly concentrated. Which begs two questions: who would possess such a thing and even more importantly, why were you exposed? Think you can stand now?” The man stood and extended a helping hand to her. She wobbled on her feet for a moment and he quickly put a steadying arm around her waist.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, embarrassed at her clumsiness. 

“Nonsense,” he demurred hugging her slightly with his supportive arm. “You were pretty much dying just a minute ago. Even the hypo-stimulant I gave you wasn’t having much of an effect. You got a really good dose of the Naphriyon gas in your system. Being a bit wobbly is to be expected.”

“Where are we going now?” she asked as he gently began to guide her. Her head still felt dizzy and she found herself leaning into him more than she probably should. 

“Back to the TARDIS. I want to do a full scan and make sure you’re okay.”

“Where are we going? What’s a TARDIS?” They halted suddenly and the man spun her around by the shoulders. He looked deeply into her eyes. _And was he actually sniffing her?_

“Do you know who I am?” he asked very slowly. His face had gone quite pale and she noticed his freckles for the first time.

A fluttering of panic arose inside her. _Oh my god, I was blithely walking off with a complete stranger! Why did I feel I could trust him?_ “No…should I? What’s happening?” She stepped back and was relieved to see that he let her go.

“It’s a side effect of the Naphriyon gas. If the pesticide doesn’t do the trick the amnesia keeps you from remembering where you found it.”

“Amnesia! You’re saying I have amnesia? That's crazy!" But try as she might should not come up with a single memory. "Do, I know you?” _Oh please, be honest with me. Please know who I am._

“Yes you do. You are Rose Tyler and I am the Doctor and we…we travel together in my ship…in the TARDIS.” He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. “Rose, I’m so so sorry.”

She found herself studying his face. It was very handsome and she enjoyed looking at it but she felt no sense of familiarity. “I don’t remember you. I don’t know you.” The panic was getting stronger. _Where was she? What was she doing here? Who was she? Who was this Rose Tyler?_

Anxiously she looked about but nothing looked familiar. She understood they were inside somewhere – this was a corridor, there were walls and a ceiling and now that she thought about it she could feel a faint vibration through the soles of her shoes. Were they on a ship then? Where were the other people? She bit back a sob and tried to be calm.

“It’s okay, the effects should wear off in a few hours. But I really need to get you back to the TARDIS to be sure.” The man, this Doctor, looked anxious himself which did little to instill confidence in his words.

“You’re a doctor you say? Are you a doctor doctor? Like a medical doctor?”

He tugged on an ear, “Well, of a sort, yeah. I’m actually a doctor of a lot of things. That’s why I’m called the Doctor. I’m pretty clever.”

“And we know each other?” She couldn’t help be suspicious; somewhere in her past she’d learned to be cautious around strange men, particularly good looking ones.

He grinned and the smile seemed to light up his whole face. “Oh yes! We’ve travelled all over, you and me. We’ve had grand adventures; even spent last Christmas together with your family.” The last was more like a question, fishing for a trigger to her memories.

She shook her head slowly and his smile dimmed. “Sorry. I don’t remember.” She looked around again. “Where are all the other people?”

“Ah now, that’s the thing. We were just about to investigate when you were attacked.”

“Investigate? Like detectives or coppers?” 

“Hmmm, detectives more than coppers, I’d say. We travel around and sometimes trouble finds us. We’re good at sorting things out and making things right again and right now I want to make sure that you’re going to be all right. Please, come with me?” 

He extended a hand and before she realized it she was reaching for it. As his fingers curled around hers she had a sudden feeling of déjà vu. She looked down at their clasped hands. “We’ve done this before.”

His fingers tightened slightly, “Many times.”


	2. A Life Examined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things remain new and strange for Rose and strained for the Doctor. Rose gets the chance to experience the TARDIS for the first time a second time and to see herself through new eyes.

The Doctor was all brisk business as he examined her. She could tell he was upset, but not at her. He swabbed her mouth and then had her blow into a tube which triggered another bout of coughing. He waited patiently for that to subside, nodding and encouraging her to “express it all out”. Next he checked her eyes and ears. When he placed his hands about her throat to check her glands, she had to look away. His touch was too much like a caress and she fought to keep her racing heart under control. This was doctor/patient territory; she must not read anything more into it. _So why did her lips still tingle from his CPR ministrations?_

“The stimulant will help your body eliminate the after effects of the gas quicker, but you’ll find you have an elevated heart rate for a few hours. Don’t be alarmed.” 

She nodded. _Good cover story._

The medical consol beeped and the Doctor turned to check the results. “As I suspected: Naphriyon gas. But that plant belongs in another galaxy and to get this level of concentration you’d have to have massive fields under cultivation...” He spun back to her, sliding his glasses into his jacket pocket. “Rose, what can you remember before you were attacked?”

She shrugged, “Nothing. All I remember is feeling heavy and warm and I must have been hallucinating too because I thought there was a bee buzzing about me.”

“Sonic screwdriver: I was trying to scan you to see what had happened, what I needed to do.” He’d had a hard time getting a reading with all the alarm bells going off in his brain. It had been part of the worst 22.06 seconds of his life.

“Then there was this sharp pain –“

He grimaced. “That was me giving you the injection, sorry.”

“And then I got icy cold and then numb. I remember you giving me CPR and calling for Rose, but I didn’t know that was me. But you sounded so worried and that got my attention. Then I started coughing up the gas and when I opened my eyes you were bending over me. I can’t remember anything before that, I’m really sorry.” She blinked back tears and tried to still her trembling.

The Doctor shook his head, touching her shoulder gently. “Hey now, that’s alright. You’ll be alright Rose, I promise. It will all come back to you as the poison leaves your system. Try not to get too frustrated. The important thing is you’re safe now.”

“What happened? You said we were going to investigate. What we were about to do?”

The Doctor then relayed to her how the TARDIS had materialized inside the Verona XXIV Mark V, a luxury starliner in the 63rd century. “We’d left the observation deck and I was going to check the engines and you were going to look for passengers or crew. That was our plan, but as you walked away I saw you suddenly collapse in a cloud of black vapor.”

She frowned. _Somehow that didn’t feel right. Why were they splitting up? They should have stayed together._ “Who would do such a thing?” she wondered.

“That’s what I want to know. I’m going back to investigate.” 

She made to slide off the examination table, but he forestalled her movements by coming to stand in front of her.

“Rose, I want you to stay here. That poison is still in your system. I need the TARDIS to monitor your recovery.”

“I’m fine,” she protested.

“Obviously you’re not. I don’t want to have to worry about you while I hunt your would-be assassin.” She huffed her disappointment and fought the urge to throw her arms around this near stranger. She didn’t want to be alone. He reached out and cradled her face with his hands. “Please Rose, I know you want to help but the best help you can be right now is to stay here and rest. I want you to remember.”

She grabbed his wrists before he could pull away. “Be careful.”

“I’m always careful,” he smirked.

“For some reason I don’t believe you,” she whispered.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, soothing the worry wrinkles away. “I’ll be careful, I promise. In the meantime the TARDIS will show you the way to the galley or to your room when you feel up to moving around. Just follow her lights.”

“Your ship can do that?”

“My ship can do a good many things that will astound and amaze you.” He winked and strode out of the room only to stick his head back in again. “Oh and Rose, I need to remind you of rule number one: No wandering off.”

“Got it,” she replied and putting on a brave face, sketched him a salute.

She sat there for a few minutes looking about the clinical room. She barely recognized anything: it seemed very…well technical and spacey. It was very well equipped for a ship med bay, she decided. They must go on lengthy voyages. 

“At least I guess we do,” she sighed. She hated this not knowing. Her mind felt like giant blackboard wiped clean. She was hastily scribbling on it every new experience and bit of information she was given but it was far from enough. Take this ship for instance. Part of her mind couldn’t accept the bigger-on-the-inside concept and yet the Doctor had treated it so matter-of-factly that she was forced to embrace it.

And this strange space ship apparently was her home away from home; just the two of them, travelling together.… Hesitantly she brushed her fingers over her lips. In her very scanty set of memories, his touch seemed to loom larger than life. She’d only known him for a matter of minutes and already she missed him. Was it the vacuum in her mind or was she remembering something?

She looked at her hands with their chewed cuticles. _That’s a nasty habit, I hope I don’t remember._ No rings and he hadn’t been wearing any either; so, not married then. That was a relief and confusingly a bit disappointing too. Her mixed up responses to him was a puzzle. Who was the Doctor? She could easily picture his face – the fearful concern when she’d first looked at him, the kindness in his eyes when he’d taken her hand, the furrow between his brows when he’d given his tests, the gentleness when he’d tried to reassure her. He’d hugged her and held her hand and kissed her forehead. Obviously they were good friends. That’s what he’d said, hadn’t he? No, the more she thought about it the more she realized he hadn’t actually defined their relationship. Only that they travelled together and did some adventuring… So why was she fixating on him? Well, he was the only person she’d met since the amnesia so that made sense, sort of.

Knowing there were no answers for her here she determined to shelve the more complex questions about their relationship. After all, this amnesia thing wasn’t permanent anyway. Soon everything would be sorted and back to normal – whatever that actually was. 

She hopped down off the table and crashed to her knees. A bout of dizziness combined with weak limbs caused her fall. She stayed on all fours for a few minutes, grateful that the Doctor had not been there to witness her frailty. “Brilliant,” she grumbled aloud. “Let’s just keep this bit to ourselves, okay? He doesn’t need to know he’s right all the time.” 

Cautiously she stood herself up and using the wall as support, followed the promising lights to the galley. Obligingly the TARDIS had the kettle already singing when she arrived and a plate of jammy dodgers on the table. “Wow,” she murmured. It was as if the ship could read her mind. A cup of tea would do wonders to rinse out that lingering file taste, she decided. 

By the time she had finished her tea and treats she was feeling much better physically. She took her dishes to the sink and looked about for soap and washing tools but found none. “Okay… that’s weird; I guess I’ll leave them for now.” 

She noticed a door opposite the galley and as she looked at it, it unlatched and swung inward invitingly. _Maybe that’s my room._ _The ship was supposed to be able to show me the way._ Curious, she pushed the door open and lights came on. It was a feminine bedroom with pale grey walls, white furnishings and dusty pink bedding. Thick cream carpet she knew would feel wonderful on bare feet covered the floor.

 _I’m a slob._ She spied the discarded clothes piled on the floor by the bed, the messy bed covers and the cluttered dressing table top. Tentatively she crossed to the bed and sat down. The mattress felt nice and she was momentarily tempted to lie down – being poisoned sure took its toll on a body; however, there was too much to see and learn here first. If this was Rose Tyler’s room then she could learn about herself here. The edge of a photo poked out from the pages of a novel on the nightstand. Apparently she was reading _Great Expectations_ by Charles Dickens.

She retrieved the photo hoping for a clue to her past. Four smiling faces beamed at her from under silly paper hats. “Well, he did say we just spent Christmas with my family.” In the center were two blonde women, one younger one older. Next to the younger one was the man, er the Doctor, and next to the older one was a young man who, if he was indeed family was her brother from another father.

“Maybe I’m the one taking the picture,” she mused. She tried to look past the faces to make out the room in the background, but nothing looked familiar. Nothing looked familiar at all except the Doctor. He looked to be wearing the same pin-striped brown suit, but he’d changed his tie. He also looked to have a very friendly arm around the shoulders of the younger woman. She felt an odd prick of jealousy.

Slowly she turned to look at the dresser. The mirror beckoned to her. Would she recognize her own face? The thought of seeing a stranger in the mirror was mildly terrifying, but she reminded herself this was all temporary. Squaring her shoulders, she walked to the mirror.

Looking back at her was the younger girl in the photo. Her hair was a few inches shorter, but they could definitely be identical twins. The shock of not recognizing her own face was somewhat mollified by the easing of misplaced jealousy. She didn’t stop to consider why she would have felt jealous but she wished she could remember how it felt to have the Doctor hold her so…. 

She looked at the photo again. Perhaps the older woman was her mum? “Okay… so maybe it was my dad who took the photo,” she mused. Setting the photo down, she leaned in to study her reflection. She practiced making faces and moving her mouth and eyebrows, but nothing seemed to be real. She watched herself tuck her hair behind her ears. She twisted and turned to look at her body with a strange detachment.

“Nothing seems real. Nothing seems right.” The panicky feelings were back and it was hard to make sense of what she was learning. Who was she really? She felt like an actress who’d been dropped into a strange role without the benefit of script or rehearsal and the play was already in full swing. 

How long had the Doctor been gone? There were no clocks in the galley or the bedroom and she wasn’t wearing a watch. The reasonable part of her mind was calculating fifteen minutes for tea and maybe five minutes in the bedroom. Was twenty minutes enough investigating time? _Shouldn’t he be back by now? Wouldn’t he want to check on me?_

She gripped the edge of the dresser and watched her eyes widen in fear. _What if he’d been attacked too? What if he now had amnesia and was lost? Who would find out what was happening to them and stop this craziness?_ Her panic had found something tangible to latch onto – the Doctor – and she couldn’t calm herself.

“I need to find him! I have to get out of here!”

She ran out into the corridor but didn’t know where to turn. 

Lights flickered to get her attention and then seemed to point her in a direction. She took off at a run, but stumbled and coughed before she could get very far. More of the poison was being purged from her system. Her mouth felt vile, but she couldn’t be concerned about that. “Please, help me. Please, I need him,” she gasped.

Suddenly, she was back in the large main room and headed straight for the exit. Rule number one wasn’t completely forgotten: she wasn’t wandering off; she was going in search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I've written 10's voice. I hope I get it right. I'm covering myself by placing this story right after the Christmas Invasion where he'd just regenerated. Everything is still quite new for him so we're feeling our way out together so to speak.


	3. Under Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor reveals the angst between he and Rose.

In the past fifteen minutes the Doctor had found ten gas canisters hidden in the ship’s vents attached to sophisticated motion sensors. The saboteurs had been thorough, using both the high and low vent system to accommodate all manner of victims. He had no doubt that there were others to be found all over the ship. All of them had been at least partially expended so their victims were somewhere. Thankfully he’d found no bodies, so the exposure had been debilitating not lethal. 

One grim consolation was that there would have been no need for the amnesia inducing gas if they were to be simply murdered and the ship stolen. Therefore the terrorists/saboteurs wanted them to forget something but not necessarily die. Was it a robbery? Kidnapping? High space piracy?

“Greetings. Please use the lifts and stairs highlighted in blue for your navigational pleasure. This stairwell is for personnel only. Please provide your data chip for authorization,” intoned the mechanized voice.

The Doctor aimed his sonic at the data scanner and then hurried toward the lower decks. He already knew the ship was being sailed automatically. Practically everything on the ship was automated. Now he wanted to learn if he could hack the system and wrest control away from whoever held it. 

He wondered briefly if he should check on Rose, but dismissed the thought as simply him being selfish. She was safe and would be fine in a few hours. She didn’t need him to be there for that. They were still a bit on the tentative side with each other since he’d regenerated. Her reaction, although perfectly normal given the circumstances, had seriously eroded his confidence around her. _Can you change back? Why, do you want me to? Yeah. Oh. Can you? No. Do you want to leave? Do you want me to? No! But your choice.…_ He’d basically died with her residual DNA on his lips and she’d rejected him out of hand. Not the best of new beginnings. He’d forgiven her but he hadn’t forgotten. 

He’d been secretly terrified that she wouldn’t want to travel with him anymore; that she could only like his old face and couldn’t see the man inside was the same. There’d been precious little time to explain and he’d had barely five minutes alone with her since she’d been Bad Wolf. 

She’d agreed to stay with him but it was all about the travelling, not about him according to what she’d said to Mickey and Jackie. He wasn’t “my doctor” anymore. And now she didn’t remember him at all; it was a knife twisting in his hearts. She’d looked at him with that same cautious blank stare when he’d first regenerated, even when he’d awakened and took on the Sycorax in a manly duel.…

No, it was more important that he understand the bigger picture and stop whatever plan was going on than hang around Rose right now. The fact that he wanted to exact revenge for her situation was a barely acknowledged fact. Nobody hurt Rose. Not now, not ever, not if he had any say. And he already knew he had a lot to say…he’d gone from brooding and taciturn to sociable and talkative in a fiery blaze of time lord glory. He thought she'd like him better this way.

He stumbled slightly on the stairs misjudging his new leg length and body weight. The adjustment period of a new regeneration was always frustrating without the added pressure of feeling like he had to prove himself. 

He took a few moments to appreciate the quietly humming machinery. This was the height of the starliner era: powerful and efficient. It was a shame people would be enamored with dimensional hopping and vortex manipulation in a few short years. The luxury of a leisurely cruise would be a nostalgic thing of the past except for the ultra rich and ultra idle and even then starliners would be completely phased out in another couple of generations.

“Right then, let’s find the control panel and see what’s going on here,”

“Hello? Hello is someone there?” a timid voice called from beyond the turbine stack.

“Hello? It’s alright, it’s just me. I’ve come to check on the engines.”

There was the sound of scurrying feet and then a small woman dressed in coveralls rounded the corner. Her frantic eyes told the Doctor she too had been hit with the gas.

“Thank goodness someone’s come! Where are we? Do you know what I’m doing here?”

“Hello. I’m the Doctor and you must be,” he leaned down to read the name on her pocket, “Umbrii.”

“Am I? I’m sorry, but something happened to me. I woke up over there and I have no memory of anything! Frankly I’m terrified.”

“You’ve been dosed with an amnesia inducing gas. The effects aren’t permanent but very disorienting. Judging by your uniform and location, I suspect you are maintenance or engineering. I don’t suppose you know where the auxiliary control panels are?”

Umbrii shook her head. “I don’t know anything. Why would someone gas me?”

“Excellent question Umbrii. Where did you say you woke up?”

“Over there. Come on, I’ll show you.” Umbrii led the Doctor around the turbine stack and pointed to a spot next to a computer screen.

“Brilliant! That’s just what I was looking for.” Before the Doctor headed to the computer, he took the precaution of pulling out a gas mask from his pocket. “Stay back. You don’t want another dose.” Sure enough, as he crossed to the control panel he triggered a sensor and a jet of black gas enveloped him.

Umbrii gave a frightened squeak. “Is that what got me?”

“Yes. Stay well away. It will dissipate in a few seconds as the ship’s ventilation scrubs and recycles the air.” The Doctor hurried to the screen and began to study it. He pulled out the keyboard and entered some commands but remained locked out. He tried a couple of other commands, but nothing worked. Then he pulled out his sonic and inserted it into a port. Sparks flew and the screen went black. “Well that was unexpected.” He pulled out the sonic and tried to get a reading. “I’m locked out and they put in a self-destructing patch in case of a forced breach of the firewall.”

“But you can fix it?”

“No, I can’t – and that’s not something you’ll hear me say every day. That’s me, I’m the Doctor, I fix things. Whoever is behind this bit of work has knowledge and technology too advanced for this sector and time.”

“Ummm, should I understand what you’re saying?”

“What? No probably not.” The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. He wished Rose was here – Rose in her right mind that is – she would know to ask the right questions, notice the details he was missing… “Well I guess we’ll have to go look for the bridge. Maybe we can gain access there. We need to know where this ship is going and why it’s been tampered with. Allons y, Umbrii.”

Happy to have someone who seemed to be in charge, Umbrii hurried to catch up with the Doctor. “You said we’re on a ship? It looks pretty big. Where is everyone?” she asked after they’d been walking for sometime down empty passages.

“As near as I can tell, everyone has been gassed. I expect they have huddled together somewhere. People like companionship in disconcerting situations.” The Doctor felt a niggling twinge: he’d left Rose without such companionship…

“What about you? Why weren’t you gassed, or did it wear off already? You said it wasn’t permanent?”

“I wasn’t gassed. I saw my, er, my friend gassed and that alerted me. I was able to avoid being contaminated.”

“Where is your friend now?”

The Doctor frowned; the line of questioning was irritating. “She’s safe,” he said curtly and lengthened his strides.


	4. Applying Logic to the Mystery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose searches for the Doctor and meets some other people aboard the Verona.

“Greetings to the Portside Observation Lounge, level 31. Please use your data chip to order refreshments at the serving stations.”

“Thank you for visiting the Portside Observation Lounge, level 31.”

“Welcome to suite 31085. Complimentary robes and slippers are on the sleeping platform. The nearest dining is located in the Starlight Dining Room level 9 or you can order to your room by using your data chip –“

She exited the empty suite and continued down the passage, trying each door in succession. Most were locked, the others were empty. She’d given up calling out for the Doctor; he’d seemed to have vanished along with everyone else and the emptiness was eerie. The longer she spent searching the more afraid she became. So far amnesia still held her fast. How long was temporary supposed to be? Her optimism had expected minutes, maybe an hour, but now she feared it could be days or even weeks.

Her feet itched to run but she forced herself to do a systematic search. She had to be the tortoise not the hare. So far, the automated voice had told her that she was aboard the Verona XXIV Mark V, part of Starliner Cruises; that she was currently on level 31; that without some data chip she couldn’t access any of the computers or services; that there was a dining room somewhere above her, a spa below her, and that she was to have a very nice day and enjoy her stay aboard the Verona.

The corridor ended in a bank of lifts painted an oceanic blue. “Up or down…where would I go if I was lost and without my memory?” She pushed the up arrow, grateful that she didn’t need a data chip to make it work. The lift doors opened shortly and she was confronted by multiple reflections of herself, a stranger in her place. She shivered. Resolutely she stepped in, turned her back on her image and studied the control panel. Starlight Dining: that looked familiar only because she’d heard the words moments ago. Still, it could be a sign. She pushed the button and was whisked to the 9th floor.

The doors slid open with a pleasant chime to a wide foyer and a large set of double doors. “Starlight Dining” was etched on the frosted glass. Shadows moved behind the glass and she heard muted voices.

“At last,” she whispered feeling both relieved and anxious. Finally here were signs of life. What kind of life, she had yet to discover. She looked about hoping to see a servant entrance so she could slip in unobserved, but if there was one, it was too well hidden on the posh ship. “Here goes nothing.” She cautiously cracked open the door.

There was a muffled scream and then everything was silent.

She pushed the door open further and called out, “Hello? Anyone in here? Are you okay?” Silence. Swallowing her nervousness, she pushed the door fully open and entered.

Crowded to the back wall was an assortment of human and humanoid aliens, about 100 individuals she estimated. They were all staring at her with the same panicked expression she’d seen in the mirror. 

“It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m…I’m Rose and I was looking for the Doctor. He’s a tall, thin bloke with brown hair wearing a brown pinstriped suit.” She gestured with her hand demonstrating his wild hair. “Is he here? Have you seen him?”

The crowd relaxed somewhat and began to murmur amongst themselves. One man stepped away from the group and approached. He looked to be a few years older than her. He had black wavy hair, blue eyes and a dimpled smile that somehow seemed familiar. “You know your name. Do you know what happened to us, what’s going on? My name seems to be,” he looked down on the silver name tag pinned to his shirt, “Steve.”

“Hello Steve. I’m afraid we’ve all been given amnesia by this Naffy gas stuff. Before you ask me too many questions, I’ve been gassed too. I only know my name because the Doctor told it to me. That’s who I’m looking for – the Doctor – have you seen him?”

Steve shook his head. “No. He’s not come by here. Who’s the Doctor? Does he know what’s going on?”

“He’s trying to find out and I’m trying to help him.” She looked around the room noticing that the crowd had somewhat spread out, although everyone still seemed to be watching her. “Do you have a data chip I could borrow?”

“A data chip?”

“Yeah, you need one to do just about anything around here.” For the first time she noticed that she hadn’t heard the automated voice welcoming her arrival. “Say, how come there was no automated voice when I came in?”

Steve stared blankly at her. “What are you talking about?”

“Everywhere I’ve gone on this ship, this computer voice has told me where I was and what I could do. But that didn’t happen here.”

“Yes, she’s right.” An older teen approached. He had a mop of red hair cropped short and wore a sweatshirt over jogging shorts. “When I woke up, I was in the corridor on level 23. She was with me,” he pointed to a pretty brown haired girl hovering nearby, wearing a tracksuit. “We started exploring, like you said and everywhere we went there was this voice. Finally we met some more lost people and eventually we all came here.”

“It’s true,” agreed the girl. “But none of us know who we are or what’s happened.”

Most of the crowd by now had drifted over and were repeating variations on the same experience. Steve shook his head, “I woke up in here. I guess that’s why I never knew about this voice you’re talking about.” He turned his attention to the others. “Does anyone know about a data chip? Does anyone have one?”

After a few moments, everyone started looking in their pockets and pulling out a wild assortment of items. A few things had writing on them which quickly had people speculating over identity and information. Yet nothing looked like a data chip to her. Then, again did she even know what a data chip looked like?

“Maybe there was no voice because this is the only place on this level?” speculated the youth. They had no pockets so they’d come to stand beside her to watch the others.

“Maybe,” she agreed. She looked around the huge dining room. Off to the side was a bar and behind it a bank of computer terminals, probably for the servers. “Steve, you have a name tag so you’re probably someone who works here. Have you tried using the computer?”

Steve looked sheepish, “No, I never thought to. Let’s try now.”

She and Steve crossed the room with the curious crowd in their wake. Along with the computer screen that continuously scrolled “Starlight Dining” there was a keyboard and a large flat pad that could be a touch pad mouse.

“Why don’t you try typing something,” she suggested.

Steve cracked his knuckles and then hit a few keys. Nothing happened. Other people began to call out suggestions as to what to type, but with the same results. Eventually frustrated, Steve turned back to the crowd.

“Welcome Steve! What would you like to order?”

“Look!” she pointed. His palm was on the flat touch pad. “You’re chip must be in your hand!”

“What would you like to order?”

Steve snatched back his hand and stared at it.

“Did you change your mind?”

She stepped up to the keyboard and typed in “Water”

The computer was silent but words appeared on the screen: Glass or Pitcher?

She looked over the crowd and decided they all were probably thirsty. That gas left a persistent bad taste in your mouth, and probably bad breath too… She typed, “Water to serve 100 people”

“Thank you. One moment please…” After a few moments the screen came on again and typed the message. “I’m sorry. There seems to be a problem in the kitchen. Please check with wait staff at your earliest convenience.”

“It says there are wait staff, or at least there were. Anyone else have a name tag?” A few hands slowly rose. She beckoned them forward and noted that they all wore similar name tags as Steve. “Well, at least you now know you work for the ship.” She tried to offer them a reassuring smile but it felt funny on her face. Maybe she didn’t smile often? _Now that was a depressing thought…_

“The rest of us are probably passengers,” the young man added. She appreciated his logical mind. Knowing how horrible it was to have amnesia, it was amazing they weren’t all in a blind panic.

They spent a few minutes testing each person for a data chip that could access the computer. All the staff could place dining room orders but nothing else. They couldn’t decide if that was a limitation of the computer or of the data chip. None of the passengers seemed to have a chip in their hand, so she asked them again to check their pocket and their person. Surely they hadn’t all left them in their rooms.…

One woman took off her cardigan and then she spotted it: a purple armband with a silver star. The others began to shed clothing and push up sleeves. All the passengers wore a band either on their wrist or arm. But none of these data chips could access the dining room computer. Apparently different chips had different functions. That made a lot of sense and logic was all any of them had to go on.

There was a general buzz of excitement now that people were beginning to learn things about themselves and their situation. But still the Doctor had not appeared and she was getting increasingly restless. Eventually she announced she must continue her search and asked for one of them to give her a bracelet so she could try accessing the computer from elsewhere on the ship. 

“I won’t tell you what to do, but I think it would be best if you all stayed here together until your memories come back. The Doctor said the effects are temporary.”

“Who is this Doctor you keep mentioning?”

“He’s my friend, I think. I was gassed same as you, but he wasn’t. At least he hadn’t been when I last saw him. That’s why I need to find him. He’s investigating this mystery and I need to know he’s safe.”

“Why would someone do this to us?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

“I’m coming with you,” Steve volunteered. “You have a passenger chip but you might need an employee chip. I bet they have different functions and levels of security.”

She was grateful for the company and nodded, offering him a shy smile. There was something about Steve that she liked. He seemed to have some natural leadership. Maybe he was a manager or something. “Sure, I’d like that. It’s pretty spooky rattling around out there on your own.”

“We’d like to come too,” spoke the young couple. She noticed they were holding hands and she had a sudden twinge of strange longing. “We wandered around quite a lot before coming here. That might be useful.”

“Well, I did just say I wouldn’t tell you what to do,” she conceded. “Okay, let’s go. The sooner we find the Doctor the better.”

Once out in the foyer Steve commented, “The computer said there was something wrong in the kitchen. Would the Doctor go there? Should we try and find out what’s wrong?”

She thought for a moment trying to imagine where the Doctor would have gone, but since she didn’t really know him it was impossible to speculate. “I guess so. Solving problems seems like something he’d do.”

The problem in the kitchen turned out to be a simple lack of manpower at the dispensary. They found it mildly comforting that even a heavily automated ship still needed the human touch for some things. Once that was sorted the four of them left the dining room again in search of the Doctor and answers.


	5. Doctor on the Bridge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor learns all he needs to know, but can he put the pieces together and solve the mystery in time? Or did the game change when no one was looking?

Once past the lowest level, Umbrii and the Doctor found the lifts. The main lifts didn’t go to the bridge, but eventually they found the service elevators. 

The service elevator opened into a small vestibule that led directly to the ship’s bridge. As soon as they entered the room, they were jumped and wrestled to the ground amid shouts and threats. From his knees, the Doctor regarded the person he assumed was in charge. The man wore a captain’s insignia on his uniform and carried himself with an unconscious air of command. He reminded the Doctor of a younger version of his old friend the Brigadier.

“Who are you and why are you on the bridge?” he demanded.

“I’m the Doctor and this is Umbrii. We came to see if we can help.”

“How do I know you’re not the skyjackers?”

“Well, I don’t suppose you could, actually. But if we were the skyjackers who masterminded this, do you really think we’d be foolish enough to just walk in and be captured? Rather defeats the purpose, don’t you think? I’m not responsible for this situation, although I am slightly impressed at the scope and annoyingly stymied over the reason. I’m the Doctor and I’m here to help. I can’t actually speak for Umbrii, I just found her in the engine room, but she seems to have been afflicted with amnesia like the rest of you.”

“And how do you know we have amnesia and you apparently do not?”

The Doctor attempted to stand, but yielded to the restraining hands on his shoulders. “I witnessed my friend being attacked with an emission of Naphriyon gas. It was hidden in the vent and triggered by a motion sensor. I’ve discovered quite a few more booby traps throughout the ship. Naphriyon acts as an amnesiac, although a strong enough dose can also be fatal.” The image of Rose dying on the floor flashed before him and his patience for this interrogation shortened dramatically.

“Never heard of it,” the Captain scoffed.

“Are you sure you haven’t just forgotten?” he snapped. He was fairly certain he could flip his captor off him and though the aggression wouldn’t gain him any points diplomatically he was getting tired of kneeling. Being still was never his favourite activity. “It’s quite the exotic element, distilled from a plant in another galaxy.”

“And you know this because…”

“Because I’m clever! Look, do you want my help or not? If not, then I’ll just be on my way. The amnesia wears off eventually and you’ll be able to get underway again. Of course it is true that you’ve been attacked and whoever that is still hasn’t played their end game. I seriously doubt they will let you regain your memories before accomplishing their goal – whatever that is.”

The Captain scowled and the Doctor counted down in his head. If he reached zero first then…. Abruptly the Captain nodded to their captors to release them. “You make a compelling argument, Doctor. How do you plan to help us?”

The Doctor and Umbrii stood and the Doctor made a point of brushing off his trousers before answering. “I can stop this but to do so I need information. I want your passenger, crew and cargo manifests. I want to look at your navigation to see if we deviated off course and where we’re headed. We need to learn what they want and how much time we have. Assuming this attack was coordinated, everyone on board more or less was hit with the Naphriyon gas at the same time. We’re on the clock, ladies and gentlemen.”

The Captain made a sweeping gesture towards the computer banks. “Without our memories, we don’t know who to use these. Hopefully you’ll have more luck.”

As the Doctor studied the controls, he glanced at the Captain. “Here,” he held out a candy.

“What’s this?”

“A peppermint. One of the side effects of Naphriyon gas is halitosis. Here, pass these around.” He produced a bag. “Tell me what you remember Captain…” he read the man’s name tag, “…Escalus.”

The man passed a weary hand over his face. “I can tell you very little, I’m afraid. We all woke up here with no memory. Thankfully our uniforms gave us name and rank to go by. Everything appears to be automated so at least we haven’t had to worry about general ship’s systems. I sent two officers to scout out the situation a while ago. They haven’t reported back. The rest of us have attempted to secure the bridge and prepare to repel boarders.”

The Doctor nodded, his fingers flew over a keyboard. “Ah, here’s the passenger manifest. According to this you should have 1594 passengers. He scanned through the names. “Oh, you have an ambassador and her family, two delegations from competing trade corporations, a seniors’ group, a single’s group, many couples – presumably on holiday… ah, now he’s a celebrity… and so’s she… I wonder if they’re…” he arched a suggestive brow toward the Captain who just stared back. “Right, well…so no one I’d suspect was a target for such an elaborate kidnapping scheme. Of course anyone could be travelling under an alias so that pretty much muddies the water.”

He called up another document. “No cargo to speak off, just ship’s stores and passenger luggage. Mind you, something could be smuggled aboard, I suppose.” He tugged thoughtfully on his ear. He was missing something.

The Captain rolled his eyes. This Doctor fellow was raising as many questions as he was providing answers.

“Let’s look at the crew. Here you are Captain: you are William S. Escalus. Says here you have a crew of 16. Most of the ship’s systems are computerized, so you can get away with a skeletal crew even on a ship this size. Believe me, I have a much larger ship than this and I’m a crew of one!” He mentally cringed. Rose wasn’t exactly crew but she was important and for awhile there’d been Jack and together they’d been Team TARDIS. Now things were different and they had yet to completely sort themselves out and he’d left her behind (safe) and he knew he’d been gone too long.… “Ha! Good news, Umbrii. You’re on the list. Your full name is Umbrii Noorse and you are junior mechanic assigned to engineering.”

Umbrii gave a nervous smile. She was feeling a bit intimidated in a room of obviously important people. To stay out of the way, she shuffled off to the far side and the back of her foot hit something soft and yielding. Looking back and down she let out an unprofessional scream. It was a body.

In a flash the Doctor was beside her, examining her grisly find. A ship’s officer, he recalled the name from the crew list. “I’m so sorry, Gregory Friar. This was your navigational officer.” The Doctor looked accusingly at the Captain.

“He was dead when we came to. We had to move him out of the way. There’s another one over there.” He pointed just beyond the Doctor and Umbrii. 

The Doctor quickly climbed over the first body to examine the second. “Lawrence Sampson, I’m sorry. This is your communications officer.”

“How…how did they die?” Umbrii whispered. She never remembered seeing a dead body before, let alone touch one.

“Naphriyon gas. In sufficient concentration the poison is deadly.” The Doctor’s hand twitched and clenched around empty air. Why had he left her alone in the TARDIS? Because he was a right coward and a git and…

He jumped to his feet and clapped his hands. “Right then; I’ve had enough of this. People have died and nearly died and there’s no reason for it.” He pushed his way to the navigational command. “Let’s just take ourselves off course and see if that get’s their attention…” He began to type into the computer and too late noticed the small vent below the navigation monitor. He had just enough time to hold his breath before a black cloud spilled forth.

Engaging his bypass respiratory system, the Doctor retrieved his gas mask and put it in place. The others were not so lucky. “Bullocks,” he muttered behind the mask gazing at the unconscious crew. “I really hate repeating myself.” And he was out of peppermints.

Fortunately he was the only one right next to the poison gas so the others were not in any mortal danger. With careful inspection he discovered the device. It had been designed to neutralize navigation and communication with deadly force.

Whatever was happening, it was serious.


	6. A Serious Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suspicions abound. Rose begins to remember, but the face she knows is the Doctor's doesn't match the man she's been looking for.

This was serious. They gazed down at the poor man. Rose shuddered, remembering vividly her own near death experience. “You said you wandered around awhile before getting to the dining room,” she addressed the young couple. “You didn’t see anyone else dead did you?”

“No. I’d have said if we did. This is the first one.”

They had systematically stopped at each floor looking for signs of life and the Doctor. They had found clusters of fellow amnesiacs but so far no one else had offered to join in their search of the huge ship. Now they were on the third floor which seemed to be some type of mall. Most of the shops appeared to be shut up tight, but this poor man had collapsed just inside a trinket stall.

Steve looked around, “Seems to me that this at least is a clue: either the attack happened really early in the morning before business, or late at night when everyone was closing down.”

“That makes sense. Not sure how helpful it is, but you never know.”

“What do we do now?” the young girl gestured to the body.

“Nothing; it’s too late for him,” Steve shrugged. He was studying a “You Are Here” map on the wall.

“But shouldn’t we, I don’t know, make him more comfortable?”

“He looks pretty comfortable to me – looks like he’s sleeping.”

“That’s how the gas works: you think you’re sleeping and then you either wake up with amnesia or you don’t wake up at all.” Rose shuddered again. She hadn’t thanked the Doctor for saving her life. Even if she couldn’t remember who he actually was, she’d known what he’d done for her. _I should have thanked him. What must he think of me?_

“So we just leave him here?”

“The amnesia won’t last forever. People will start to remember who they are and what they do. He’ll be found and taken care of,” Steve assured them. “Let’s go.”

As he herded them back into the lift, Rose was irritated by Steve’s apparent callousness and moved to put some distance from him in the confines of the elevator. Something was off, but she couldn’t quite figure it out. Having lost your memories was upsetting and seeing a dead man was definitely jarring, but there was a different disquiet niggling at the corner of her consciousness. She wished she’d get her memories back. She wished she could find the Doctor.

The Doctor left the bridge eager to get back to the TARDIS. He left post-it notes to the sleeping crew that should bring them up to speed. He’d succeeded in hacking navigations and set the ship on a return route. Better to retrace their flight than head off into the unknown. He’d also been able to begin a trace of the digital footprint left in the skyjacker’s programming. 

It was an inside job. Someone – presumably more than one – were onboard orchestrating this entire operation. Now he needed the TARDIS to take his readings and lock on.

He also needed to see Rose. Hopefully the stimulant would have helped her be rid of the Naphriyon by now. He needed his companion and he needed to apologize for leaving her behind. If she had her memories back already, he was probably going to get a proper Prentice slap out of this; he’d been gone longer than he’d planned. 

Before he left the bridge he used the security monitors to sweep the ship. He wanted to take the most direct route back to the TARDIS, but he also wanted to avoid being entangled with more needy passengers. As he suspected, the ship’s population had clotted together in large spaces: the dining rooms, the theatres, the gyms. “Hold on,” he made note of four life forms moving separately from the others. Could these be the skyjackers? 

“Are you completely sure about this Doctor friend of yours?” They’d been searching for hours it seemed.

“What do you mean? Do you think I dreamt him up or something?”

“No, not really, but are you sure he was going for help? Maybe he’s in on it – whatever “it” is. Maybe you both are and you got gassed by accident.” Suspicion tinted Steve’s voice and the other two looked on nervously.

“What? No! It’s not like that. I’m not like that. He’s not like that.”

“But how do you know? How do you know for sure?”

“Because I do!” Conviction swelled from deep in her heart. “He’s kind and wonderful and he’s shown me a better life – “she gasped as the image of another man, one clad in a black leather jacket and blue jumper flashed into her memory. _The Doctor!_

“What is it? What’s wrong?” the young girl was tugging on her arm.

“Did you remember something?”

“Are your memories coming back?”

Rose shut her eyes and shut out their voices. Fragmented impressions and sensations were coming back. Her stomach heaved with dread. The handsome man in the brown suit was an imposter! Oh no, what had happened to her Doctor? “I need to sit down,” she whispered and let them lead her blindly to a bench.

Eventually she opened her eyes and looked at their worried faces. “I think I’m remembering some things from my past but nothing big,” _liar_ “and I still don’t know what’s going on now.”

The girl patted her knee. “The gas must be wearing off. That’s good news. I’m sure you’ll be fine soon.” She looked at the two men, “That means we’ll all be remembering.”

The youth smiled and nodded at her, but Rose noticed Steve’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “How do we know you’re not acting right now? We have no way of telling if you’re faking this.”

“Well, if we want to waste time throwing suspicions at each other, what’s to say any of you aren’t the one faking it?” Rose snapped in righteous indignation. “You could be faking us out just as much as me.” A warning bell was ringing in the back of her mind. Something she’d missed. There was something that was making a connection for her but she couldn’t’ quite grasp it. Her mental attention was preoccupied with her revelation of the Doctor. _Who was the man that had saved her? Why was he pretending to be the Doctor? Where was her Doctor?_

“Don’t be ridiculous. I was in a room full of people,” Steve scoffed.

“Hidden in plain sight,” challenged Rose.

Steve’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, but you came out of nowhere with this story of looking for the Doctor. You were the one who knew about the data chips. You’re the one who separated us from the group.”

“You volunteered to come with me. I didn’t ask any of you to come.”

“Stop it,” interrupted the girl. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

“She’s right,” agreed the youth.

“Look, I said back in the dining room that I couldn’t tell any of you what to do, and I meant it. If you want to go back, or want to go wandering off on your own, then go ahead. I’m going to keep looking.” She didn’t say for the Doctor because now that name had a different association and she didn’t know what she felt about it. She still felt compelled to find the brown suited man even if he wasn’t who he claimed to be. She tried to concentrate and force more memories to surface but nothing came. Frustrated, she pushed herself to her feet. “I’m going to try the next level.”

“You can’t. These lifts don’t any higher.”

“And you know this how?”

“I looked at that map on the wall while you lot were gawking at the body.”

Rose felt a new fluttering of panic. Had they somehow passed each other in their wanderings? Had he chosen to go down instead of up when she had chosen her first elevator ride? “What is on the floor above us?”

“The bridge; command personnel only.”

“That’s where the Doctor would have gone,” she nodded. Her Doctor, the proper Doctor, would have gone to find out who was in control and what was being done. Maybe the brown suited man would do the same. “So how do we get up there?”

“There’s another set of lifts for the ship’s crew. The map showed them in the bow and stern.” That made sense as the passenger’s lifts ran mid-ship, port and starboard side. “Only the bow one goes up to the bridge.”

“Then that’s where I’m going.”

“But what if the guys who did all this are there? You know, driving the ship to wherever they’re taking us?” asked the girl.

Rose turned to her, “You’re right, it could be dangerous. We’ll have to be extra careful. If you don’t want to go, I understand, but I have to. I have to try and find the Doctor and stop whatever is happening.”

“Do you want to stay here?” The young man put a comforting arm around the girl.

“I think we should stick together,” said Steve.

“I think we should stay safe. It’s one thing to go about an empty ship, it’s quite another thing to go into the control room when you know that people are up to something,” he argued.

“Well said!” They all spun around to see him – the man who claimed to be the Doctor – leaning against the wall. “Hello Rose, what happened to rule number one?” he asked with false cheer. He pushed off the wall and joined them in handful of long strides. He stopped just short of grabbing for her a hug as he saw no light of recognition in her expression. That stung.

He hid his disappointment by turning to her companions. “Hello, I’m the Doctor; I see you’ve met my friend Rose. Honestly, there’s no need to go to the bridge. I’ve already been and everything’s sorted. Weeelll, it will be once the crew wakes up again and reads my post-it notes.” He couldn’t help but smile at Rose, looking for her approval. He was gratified to see a small quirk of her lips, but he didn’t like the way she was holding her hands – one of those should be in his. Her memories should be coming back by now. Unhappily he shoved his hands in his trouser pockets.

“What do you mean everything’s sorted?”

“I hacked into the skyjacker’s program and changed course. We’re headed back to Regulis and the authorities.”

The young couple gasped.

“What is it?” Rose asked, “Are you remembering something?”

“Oh I don’t think they’ve ever forgotten anything, Rose.”

“What?”

“It’s a good thing too because I’m completely out of peppermints.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Naphriyon gas leaves one with a very bad case of halitosis. Their breath is fine.” Rose’s eyes widened as the overlooked detail fell into its rightful place. The Doctor’s voice had become very serious. “Now, why don’t you explain exactly what is happening here and if I don’t like it I will stop it. And I must warn you I really, really don’t like it so far.”


	7. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery is solved but the problems are not, Rose and the Doctor are captured by a double crossing pirate.

“You’re not stopping anything, Doctor.” Steve’s voice was equally serious and so was the gun in his hand. He calmly pointed it in their general direction.

“Steve?” Of course; his breath had been fine too. That’s what she’d noticed in the confines of the elevator box, but hadn’t realized it. “You’re all together in this?”

“I’m Tybalt, actually. Steve is in the liquor lockup beyond the kitchen. I needed his chip to access the ship’s systems.” Tybalt held up the hand with the embedded data chip and she noticed the pink scar.

“That’s why you had us check into the kitchen malfunction before we left. You didn’t want anyone snooping around on their own and discovering what you did.”

“You are a clever one,” he conceded before glancing at the young couple. “I’m who you hired. Sorry I couldn’t introduce myself earlier but these two,” his gun pointed more directly at Rose, “arrived out of nowhere and messed up the plan.”

“We didn’t hire you to do this! A man is dead!”

“You supplied the gas – didn’t you know how dangerous it was? I just saw an opportunity to supplement your fee with a bit of space salvage.”

“Pirate!”

“At your service.”

During this exchange the Doctor was silent. When he spoke his anger was buried behind measured tones. “There are two more dead on the bridge.”

Tybalt shrugged, “The price of a well executed plan: I had to be sure no one would notice the course correction or send a may day. Collateral damage that’s all.”

“But you were just to knock out everyone and block their memories so we could escape!” The girl was wiping away angry tears.

“Escape? From what?” The Doctor was slowly easing himself between Rose and the gun barrel. 

Rose caught his movement and touched his arm. The wool suit felt strange – she half expected to feel leather – but she held on nevertheless. She didn’t want him injured on her account. No heroics. Not yet at least. 

As the young couple quickly told their story of two powerful families and forbidden love the Doctor silently groaned. Two rival trading companies – virtual Montagues and Capulets with a Romeo and Juliet caught in the middle of Verona! All the details, the numbers and the names tumbled through his mind.

“Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny…” he muttered. 

Rose threw him a puzzled look but returned her attention to the young couple’s story.

“We were eloping.”

“Were you going to have the Captain marry you?” 

“We couldn’t. We’re under age according to the ship’s rules. That’s why we contacted the Dark Brotherhood. Both our families have employed their services in the past so it was fairly simple to contract them. They were smuggling us off the ship and taking us to the Moon of Vegas. By the time our families figured out what had happened we would be happily married.”

“But the Doctor spoiled everything by changing the ship’s course.”

“This ship wasn’t going anywhere near Vegas, was it Tybalt?” the Doctor frowned at him.

Tybalt grinned and shrugged, unrepentant. “Never trust a pirate, kiddies. Once I had the gas I knew I could make this job much more profitable: kidnapping, slave trading, salvaging. There are a lot of rich and important people here, not to mention the state-of-the-art star cruiser waiting to be plucked from the sky.”

“But now the ship’s been turned around.” Rose pointed out a bit proudly.

“My dark brother’s would have noticed that and moved to intercept instead. We’re close enough to make it work.” He looked at each of them in turn carefully. “It’s a shame I don’t have a spare canister of that gas, it makes things very easy. I guess I’ll have to resort to more primitive measures to keep you contained until the rest arrive. I could just kill you, and I will if you give me trouble.”

“Or you could just surrender now and save us all the trouble.”

Tybalt barked out a laugh at the Doctor’s suggestion. “You’re a funny one! Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter this time. As thing are explained but the tension mounts I felt it was the best place to put the break and keep the energy going. Sorry (not really) for the mini cliffie.


	8. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose are in a tight situation, but the Doctor has a plan. Well, sort of a plan...

Their situation seemed familiar. They’d been captured, tied up and held in a small space. They’d watched Tybalt shove the equally trussed up young couple into a closet in the cabin before he’d forced them to the ensuite and into the tiny shower. He ripped the towel bar off the wall and jammed it into the handle on the thick glass door.

“We’ll be back for you as soon as we’re squared away,” Tybalt promised. “You should earn us some hefty coin on the slaver’s market.”

The Doctor shouted out one last chance for Tybalt to change his mind, but he was just laughed at.

The Doctor trying to give the villains a chance to redeem themselves… that felt so right to Rose. So did having her hands tied behind her back and being pressed up against him in tight quarters… she felt a blush rising up her neck. What kind of things had they got up to in the past? _Head out of the gutter, girl!_

“Rose.”

She looked up at him half expecting to see the other face. She blinked to clear her vision but her confusion must have registered.

“Are you getting your memory back?” His face looked hopeful and she hated to disappoint him.

“Yes, I think so. It’s just bits and pieces and I’m having trouble making sense of it." She bit her lip nervously. "This might sound stupid, but is “Doctor” a group title, or a family name?”

“No, why?” He was twisting his body, trying to loosen his bonds and all the pressing and rubbing was a hard distraction to ignore. If she loved her Doctor so much, why was she so attracted to this man?

“It’s just that I keep remembering a different person with that name,” she blurted with more frustration than she probably should have.

The Doctor stilled. He looked up at the ceiling and Rose watched as his adam’s apple bobbed and he sighed. Finally he looked back down at her sadly. “That’s me. You’re remembering what I used to look like. We were in terrible danger and something happened and it caused me to change. It only happened a little while ago and you had a hard time adjusting.”

Rose listened carefully to his words. She heard weary resignation in his voice and unaccountably she believed. “You’re an alien.” He nodded. “And I’m a human and we travel together.” He nodded again giving her a tiny smile. “I’m sorry,” her heart squeezed in sympathy for him. “I don’t remember, but I do know whatever it was couldn’t have been easy for you. My not accepting you must have hurt too and then my not remembering must hurt even more.”

“No Rose, you’ve been brilliant. The way you step up and try to make a difference, even when you’ve lost your memory, is just brilliant, it’s just beautiful.” His chest expanded with pride and Rose was suddenly aware of how her chest was pressed against his. The shower taps were digging into her back and she had nowhere to go. Her blush deepened because she couldn’t say she didn’t like it. 

“Although…” he continued, “we are going to have to discuss how you insist on breaking rule number one,” He leaned down and brushed her nose with his. “I’m going to have to come up with a suitable punishment.”

“Okay…”she breathed; uncertainty and excitement bubbled in her veins. 

“But first things first: I can’t loosen these ties, so I need to you turn around and get my sonic.”

“Your sonic?”

“Yes, my sonic screwdriver. It’s in my right jacket pocket.”

Rose began to twist around, trying not to get her bound hands hung up on the taps. “Both my tied hands are going to fit in your pocket?”

“It’s bigger on the inside.”

“Like the TARDIS.”

“Yeah.”

With much wiggling and twisting on both their parts, Rose finally was able to shove her hands into his pocket. Her stretching fingers finally touched a cool metallic cylinder. “I got it!” Carefully she pulled her hands free.

“Okay, now I’m going to turn around so you can hand it to me.”

More twisting and wriggling and at last Rose was able to shove the tool into his hands. “How are you going to operate it if you can’t see what you’re doing?”

“I’m extremely tactile.” Rose could have sworn she heard a chuckle in his answer and her mind raced back into the gutter. There was a whirring sound and suddenly her zip ties fell away. There was a second whirring sound and Rose felt the Doctor’s arms relax.

A third sound and the tempered glass of the shower door cracked into an impressive spider web design.

“Turn your head, just in case,” the Doctor warned before he hit the door with the heel of his hand. The glass spilled outward and he quickly pulled the towel bar free.

Stepping out, he spun around and handed her out. “Careful on the broken glass, you could slip.” In seconds they were out of the bathroom and to the closet to free the terrified young people.

“We’ll have to be stealthy. The other pirates could be boarding any time.” The Doctor had kept a careful mental count of the passing minutes.

“But you’ve got a plan,” Rose declared and the Doctor rewarded her with a warm smile that tugged at her.

“Oh, you know me!” he winked. Not exactly, but Rose knew the feeling of adrenaline rushing through her and she grinned back. This too felt familiar and right.

From his left jacket pocket, the Doctor produced two small canisters. “I took these from air vents, they haven’t been used. I want you two to stay here, hide and be quiet. We’ll come back when it’s all clear. Only use this if you have to because I don’t have any gas masks to give you. You’ll be knocked out right along with your attackers.”

The young man took the canister. “We understand,” he said solemnly. “And Doctor, for what it’s worth we never meant anyone to be hurt. We just love each other and we were desperate to be together.”

The Doctor nodded. “Love can make you reckless, but I’m afraid you’ll have to find another way to make this work for each other.”

“Wait. What are your names?” Rose didn’t approve of the trouble these two had created, but she still had compassion for their situation.

“I’m Julia Capo.”

“Roman Monterey.”

The Doctor shook his head, putting the second canister back in his pocket. “Of course you are,” he chuckled at some private joke. “Stay here, stay quiet and stay safe.” Taking Rose’s hand he went to the door. 

“What was that all about?”

“I’ll tell you later. Here,” he handed her his gas mask. “Keep this ready.”

“But what about you, Doctor? Where’s your mask?”

“I only have the one, but don’t worry. I can hold my breath for a really long time.”

Rose frowned worriedly nevertheless. The instinct to protect the man beside her was very strong, still she had to trust he was telling the truth. “What’s the plan?”

“Stop the pirates.”

“What are the details of the plan?”

“Oh, I make those up as I go along! Too many variables you see.”

“So no plan, not really.”

“Nope.” He popped the “p” with enthusiasm, and his eyes sparkled with excitement. 

Rose stared at him, fascinated and drawn into his infectious joy. “Okay then, lead on Doctor.”

His eyes warmed with sudden tenderness at her faith in him. “Rose Tyler,” he marveled, “Lewis to my Morse. Allons y.”


	9. Verona Defended

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pirates get a dose of their own medicine.

“Where do you think they’ll come aboard?” whispered Rose as they slunk along the passageway to the service lifts.

“Anywhere if they have trans-mat capabilities, but I don’t think they do. Otherwise Tybalt could have just popped in, set the traps and popped out again. He wouldn’t have had to impersonate a crew member.” The Doctor took her hand as the lift doors slid closed. “They have to come in through the loading bay. Any breach in the hull would only slow down their getaway and make the ship less valuable for resale.”

“Let’s hope the pirates are pragmatic then.”

“I’m counting on it.”

They crept along behind cargo crates in the loading bay, pausing each time they heard a sound. The Doctor heard the faint shifting of hard soled boots and clamped a stilling hand on Rose’s shoulder. He nodded his head in the general direction of the sound moments before Rose heard the soft rustle of fabric and then a repeated click as if someone was biding their time, waiting.

“Tybalt?” mouthed Rose and the Doctor nodded. He was somewhere between them and the loading bay hatch.

Now it was a matter of waiting. Rose sat with her back braced by a container. It was the first time she had sat since leaving the TARDIS and the dull ache in her feet told her as much. Even in trainers she figured she’d covered miles in the last few hours. A nice long, hot bath after this would be heavenly.

The Doctor crouched beside her. He arched a questioning eyebrow, catching her flex her ankles and calves. She smiled and gave him a jaunty thumb’s up. He mimed holding the gas mask over her face and she fished it out of her back pocket to show him. He nodded but looked serious. Rose softly patted his nearest knee in reassurance.

He leaned over as if to whisper something in her ear when the floor gave a slight shudder. This was followed by a dull thud and metallic grinding. 

Booted footsteps walked away from them. “You better not have scratched the paint,” called Tybalt. There was a hiss as the air pressure changed and the loading bay hatch was opened. More boot steps could be heard.

“All secure?”

“Of course.”

“What happened – why did you change course?”

“Oh we had a trouble maker but I’ve taken care of ‘em. Let’s be lively boys, we got less than an hour before the gas starts wearing off.”

Rose couldn’t tell just by listening how many pirates there were but the Doctor seemed to be keeping track. She watched his lips move and he seemed to counting. Suddenly he turned to her and nodded. Rose put on the mask. With what looked like a bent paperclip, the Doctor jammed the aerosol canister in the open position. Immediately the black cloud spewed forth. He stood, lunged from behind their hiding spot and lobed the canister at the raiding party. He tucked himself into a rolling tumble and disappeared behind another crate.

There was a brief bout of shouts and curses and then Rose could hear bodies falling and crashing. When all was still, she risked a peek but could see nothing for the swirling dark cloud. She could hear the aerosol can still hissing over the sound of her own breath in the mask. It seemed to go on forever and Rose began to wonder just how long the Doctor could hold his breath. May he fled the room to wait it out.

_He tumbled in that direction, maybe I should follow._ She rose up into a crouch and ran in his direction hoping visibility would improve before she crashed into anything.

And crash into something she did – straight into the Doctor. Thankfully she didn’t hit him hard enough to knock the breath out of him, but he swiftly caught her in his arms to keep them both from falling. He allowed himself the luxury of holding her close for longer than it took Rose to regain her footing.

Just before being tackled he’d manually initiated the air exchanger – a handy air quality control device that helped keep toxic fumes from entering the ship during a loading sequence. He’d waited long enough to ensure all those not protected had succumbed to the Naphriyon before pushing the button. 

In seconds the air was purified and he could take a proper breath. “Hello,” he smiled down on her and pulled the mask off her face, stuffing in back into his capacious pocket.

“Hi,” she replied. “I didn’t know you could hold your breath for that long.”

“Superior time lord biology.”

“Time Lord? That sounds a bit posh.”

“It’s not as posh as you think, as you’ll remember soon enough.”

“I hope so. I feel like I’m missing out.”

“Rose Tyler missing out? Nah, you’re right in the thick of things: action and adventure all around. Why you just helped defeat a band of marauding pirates and saved a boat load of people! Speaking of, let’s get these fellows back where they belong.”

Together, they dragged and carried the sleeping pirates back on board their ship with the help of a handy hover-cart. All except Tybalt, who the Doctor declared needed to pay for his crimes: at least three people were dead because of him. Once the unconscious men were back on board their ship, the Doctor set an auto-disengage sequence and sent them to drift off into space. By the time the crew awakened and then recovered their memories they would be far away from the Verona. 

Rose had wondered aloud if they shouldn’t all be arrested, after all they were the Dark Brotherhood, but the Doctor disagreed. As far as he was concerned they’d done little wrong that day and he’d never given them any chance to change their plan so this was the kindest course of action. “Who knows Rose, maybe they’ll have a change of heart when word gets back to them of how they were bested by just one time lord and his faithful companion.” He slung a friendly arm about her shoulders. “Of course I do have an eidetic memory and I saw each and every face. They will not want to cross my path again if they haven’t mended their ways.”


	10. Clean Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tybalt is secured. The real Steve is found and Rose remembers.

They loaded Tybalt onto the hover-cart and took him to the liquor lock up. It was the most secure spot on the luxury liner. They released the real Steve who thankfully only had a lump on his head and an injured hand. Because of his incarceration he hadn’t been subjected to the gas. Once the Doctor cleared him from any possible concussion and had treated his hand (having a jeopardy-friendly companion necessitated carrying the basics of a med kit at all times) Steve was more than happy to stand guard over the lock up. 

They laid out the sleeping Tybalt in his place. The Doctor speculated that when he awoke he’d probably keep himself incapacitated with alcohol until the proper authorities could collect him.

All the while they were moving the pirates, Rose was regaining her memory. Her first recollection of the man who worked beside her was of him rising up from his sick bed to defend them from the killing Christmas tree. Then she remembered him taking her hand on board the TARDIS, still dressed in the too-big leather coat and jumper of the first Doctor. She remembered feeling very confused and frightened and how he’d been patient and encouraging with her; just as he had been ever since she’d been gassed. 

Then she remembered the duel in borrowed jim-jams and how he’d lost his hand and grown it back, and how he thrown the satsuma and sent the traitorous Sycorax plummeting to his death. He was that kind of man: an ancient alien time lord, swift and powerful, kind and funny, drop dead clever and drop dead gorgeous. And she would do anything for him.

She knew in her heart he truly was her Doctor. Yes, he had changed just as he said, and for some reason she felt guilty about that but she couldn’t remember why. There were Daleks and death and Jack…Jack! 

She remembered Jack! And Mickey! And her mum! Her dear, sweet, plucky mum who’d embraced the Doctor’s changes far faster than she had. Her mum who’d forced her to sit through a proper trim and style before “…swanning off again with himself. He’s a right looker now, Sweetheart. You’d best be taking care of your appearance.”

“A penny for them,” the Doctor broke into her reverie. They were making their way back to Roman and Julia.

Rose paused and turned to face him. “I’m remembering.”

“Oh yes!” He threw his arms around her and lifted her right up off her feet. She squealed her surprise and grabbed his shoulders. “That’s the best news of the day!” He held her aloft for a moment before setting her down. “How much do you remember?”

Rose laughed. “I don’t’ know! Stuff just keeps popping into my head. I think I have it all back and then I remember something else. I remember mum and Mickey, and Kiesha and Shareen, oh and Jack…”

“What do you remember about me?” He almost seemed shy and her heart melted.

She straightened and smoothed his tie. “A lot. You’re a time lord from a place called Gallifrey. You’ve got two hearts and ridiculously good hearing and sense of smell. You love bananas and hate pears. You like way too much sugar in your tea and you think you’re very clever.”

His eyes were sparkling again. “I am very clever!” he retorted, giving her waist a tiny squeeze.

“You can also do this thing to cheat death where you change every cell in your body: new face, new body, new everything… but still the same man inside.”

“Still the same?” So much hope was packed into his question.

“Yeah, Doctor. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”

He pulled her close again and pressed a lingering kiss to the top of her head. Rose closed her eyes and relaxed into his embrace. She wound her arms about his waist, content to stand there for as long as he’d let them. For the first time since his regeneration, she felt truly safe and secure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go.


	11. All's Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title says it all.

“The way I see it, there could be a good outcome from this – at least for your families,” Rose commented. “When you didn’t know each other, when you didn’t have your memories of old grudges and hurts, you got along didn’t you?”

“Well, as a matter of fact we did,” admitted Mrs. Monterey.

“Yes, you’re right,” agreed Mr. Capo. “We did get along. There’s nothing like being in the same situation to level the playing field.”

“And you don’t have to go back to the way you were, even if you do remember. Your children love each other and were willing to take terrible risks to be together. Don’t you want them to be happy?”

The parents exchanged looks and subtle shrugs and smiles. They had been appalled to learn their children had been the cause of all the trouble, but they had also been impressed by the lengths to which they were willing to go for love and the ingenuity (although naïve) with which they’d orchestrated their elopement. Both families thought their child held great promise for the future of their business.

“I’m not saying what they did was right,” Rose continued. “It certainly wasn’t, but sometimes we feel forced to take extreme measures…” W _hy am I picturing a yellow lorry rescue truck?_ “…especially if we feel we haven’t been heard. Roman, Julia, I think you have your parent’s attention now.”

As Roman and Julia spoke with their parents, the Doctor watched the exchange with pride and satisfaction. Rose had such a knack for diplomacy – she could see the truth and speak directly to people’s hearts. Her compassion was a gift he never tired of seeing on display.

He stepped closer. “I believe our work is done here,” he said quietly and ushered her to the door. They had moved the two families into a private room before Roman and Julia confessed all.

“Oh, wait Doctor! Please let us say thank you for all you’ve done. The children’s plans went very badly and without you we would be in serious trouble right now. Thank you so much!” Mr. Monterey grabbed the Doctor’s hand and pumped it enthusiastically.

Mr. Capo stood right behind him and shook his hand in turn. “Yes, Yes. If there is anything we can do, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call upon us. I dare say we owe you our lives.”

The Doctor and Rose acknowledged their thanks and exited as quickly as possible. They peeked into the dining room to see if everyone was okay. The other victims were slowly regaining their memories. Much to their delight, the new acquaintances and friendships born out of adversity appeared to be lasting. People were able to look past previous barriers of wealth, privilege and station to appreciate the individual.

“What about the ship’s crew? Didn’t you say they were still asleep?”

The Doctor rocked back on his heels. “Oh, they’re fine. My post-it notes will explain everything. I may have accidentally dosed them with a second round of gas that’s all.”

“Doctor!”

“Yes, well as I said it was an accident. The ship’s on autopilot, safely back to Regulis. The authorities are expecting them. The company will probably give everyone a fat settlement for their troubles – huh, maybe that’s why this is pretty much the end of luxury starliner travel: insurance got too expensive. It always comes back to economics, Rose, doesn’t it. Anyway, Tybalt will take the brunt of all that’s happened and I’m very confident that his past exploits are more than enough to warrant whatever the law chooses to throw at him. The Dark Brothers have a very dark reputation to answer for.”

“All’s well that end well, then?” They were headed back to the TARDIS.

“A Shakespeare allusion: how fitting! And yes, all’s well…except for Friar and Lawrence and that chap in the shops, of course.” Death constantly shadowed him. The Doctor kept track and remembered all the names as best he could. It was the least he could do.

“Friar…Lawrence… that sounds vaguely familiar…”

The Doctor smirked.

“What was it you said back there when we first all met up: something about ‘dignity’ and ‘fair Verona’ and ‘mutiny’?”

“Oh I can’t believe it!” crowed the Doctor, “and you being British! Don’t you know your Shakespeare? That’s act one, scene one, line one from his famous _Romeo and Juliet_! Honestly Rose, we must look into your education. Maybe we’ll go visit the Bard sometime. I’ve always wanted to.”

Rose was chagrinned but lifted her chin and sniffed. “I blame it on my amnesia. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

“Ha!” He jostled her shoulder with his.

She reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek before slipping into the TARDIS ahead of him. His hearts leapt; his Rose was back, and he couldn’t be happier.

“I’m going to have a long, hot bath,” she called as she jogged up the ramp. “My dogs are positively barking.” She was also going to make a point of tidying her room. 

“Enjoy,” the Doctor called after her. He dematerialized the TARDIS and they left the Verona XXIV Mark V behind. Once in the Vortex, a vibration in his right breast pocket alerted him to an incoming message on his psychic paper. “What do we have here?” he wondered aloud. He pulled out the paper to read the message. A very old friend was requesting his presence.

The Doctor checked the proposed coordinates and time signature. “New man, new face, New New York…sounds about right.” He sent his affirmative reply and then put the coordinates on standby. Rose would not appreciate having her bath time interrupted. He could wait; it was one of the perks of flying a time ship. He would go fix them a nice cuppa and maybe even try for a cuddle and a movie before they went to Ward 26 to visit the Face of Boe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this story to help facilitate the relationship transition between Rose and the Doctor coming out of the “Christmas Invasion” and going into “New Earth”. I always felt that was rushed in the TV show; I just knew there had to be some off screen adventures and/conversations that could be explored and which give more weight to the opening lines of second episode. BTW, according to Wikipedia: “…Tennant noted that the TARDIS has moved since "The Christmas Invasion". He speculates that there might have been many off-screen adventures, or (observing that it no longer seems like Christmas in the introduction) perhaps that the Doctor "lived there for a bit".”  
> I hope you enjoyed my twist of the Romeo & Juliet trope and the addition of pirates. This whole story grew from the opening scene in the first chapter and the idea of Rose being poisoned by gas. First I wanted to have star-crossed lovers who were not our darlings, but I really didn’t know who was going to be the ultimate villain of the story until I went back and re-read the Act 1, scene 1, line 1 of the play. When I read “mutiny”, I knew I had a nautical metaphor that not only determined setting but gave license to include treacherous pirates!


End file.
